PRINCE William is launching a major five-year campaign to end homelessness, which he says should not exist in a “modern and progressive society”.
The Prince of Wales’s charitable foundation is putting in £3m of start-up funding to help make homelessness “rare, brief and unrepeated”.
Six locations across the UK will be used to test ideas to cut homelessness.
“Everyone should have a safe and secure home and be treated with dignity,” says Prince William.
This “Homewards” initiative is likely to be one of the defining projects for the Prince of Wales – a commitment which he will be aware comes with the risk of being accused of straying into politics.
Ahead of the launch, Prince William has spoken to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove and the first ministers of Scotland and Wales.
It is a cause that is deeply personal to the prince, which he has linked to the influence of his mother, Princess Diana, who brought him to homelessness charities as a child.
There are more than 300,000 people currently homeless across the UK, which includes those who are stuck in hostels and temporary accommodation, living in cars and sofa-surfing, as well as people who are rough sleeping.
As well as preventing homelessness, there is an aim to change attitudes and show how many people can be affected. Recently the prince opened an affordable housing project for young people with jobs, but who still needed help with accommodation.
